the satellite programs. Senior Air Force staffers continually pointed out
that the outer reaches of the earth’s atmosphere were still within their area
of expertise. Space-based sensors, weapons–indeed, anything that flew–ought
to belong to them. In one series of white papers, they’d argued that
satellites could be used as forcefully in a “presence mission” as any carrier
battle group.
Satellites in presence missions. Vice Admiral Magruder snorted in
disgust. According to the officers that wore light blue suits, the mere rumor
that a satellite was focused on a particular region would give a two-bit
dictator reason to worry. They’d immediately stop slaughtering their own
populations in the name of ethnic cleansing and become peaceful members of the
world community.
For some strange reason, the rest of the military community failed to
agree that a satellite could be as visible a symbol of U.S. intentions as a
carrier battle group or amphibious task force sitting within view of the
coast. While all services agreed that air superiority was a necessary
precondition for a successful land campaign, no service except the Air Force
believed that air power could eliminate the need for ground combat.
What would the “Air Farce” want next? Satellites flying in formation
like F-14’s? A satellite equivalent of “Top Gun” school? Vice Admiral
Magruder smiled at the thought and wondered if he could hornswoggle some
junior Air Force officer into seriously proposing the concepts. The resulting
flame war and embarrassment would be worth watching. Now that he was safely
out of the Pentagon and back in an operational command, the political
machinations and aspirations of others were a good source of flag-level jokes.
No, despite the invaluable information that satellites provided, they
were far too vulnerable and weather-dependent to replace the Navy in presence
missions. Besides, assuming that satellites would serve as a deterrence to
hostilities depended on one assumption of doubtful validity–that the country
supposedly being deterred knew that satellite was there. And for the
third-world countries that currently teetered on the edge of violence, that
was a mistake.
On the other hand, China was hardly a technological backwater. While its
society was rigidly stratified, with millions of people living in unimaginable
poverty, the most populated country in the world had devoted a large
percentage of her GNP to military advancements. Along with her purchases from
Russia, Japan, and Korea, she was quickly developing a high-tech
military-industrial complex of her own. Analysts at highly classified
briefings had speculated that China’s international intelligence network was
becoming a significant concern, particularly in light of the United States’
relatively lenient policy of granting political asylum to almost any Chinese
national who claimed it. Undoubtedly, China had the means for determining
when U.S. satellites were providing surveillance on the area, and Vice Admiral
Magruder wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they were also tapped into the
satellites’ maintenance schedule. Maybe satellites could deter the burgeoning
regional–and soon, international–power.
But deterrence required understanding why a country was doing whatever it
was doing, and unraveling the chain of logic that underlay China’s political
and military decisions was an almost futile task. Steeped in centuries of
military tradition, and following the tenets of such brilliant
military-political thinkers as Sun Tzu, the Chinese agenda was undoubtedly a
subtle one.
“Get me a secure line to General Emberfault,” the senior Magruder said,
referring to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “He’s probably
already gotten reports on this from other sources, but I want him to hear it
from us. It’s my battle group that’s on the line out there, and I need to
know what I can do to protect it.”
1215 local (Zulu -7)
cvic, USS Jefferson
“I didn’t see it myself, Admiral, but I sure felt the blast.” Bird Dog
Robinson shifted uneasily in the hard plastic chair. The buzz of adrenaline
from the bolter and his trap was starting to fade, leaving him feeling dopey
and slow. He was tempted to rest his elbows on the government-issue table and
support his head with his hands. He was still in his flight suit, although
he’d ditched his ejection seat harness in the Handler’s office on his way down
to CVIC for debriefing. Despite the air conditioning in his Tomcat and in